The five favourite films of Kevin Smith
Known for his unbridled love of geek culture and for riding the wave of 90s independent cinema with his low-budget, low-fi debut Clerks in 1994, Kevin Smith is a truly distinct personality in the film world. The New Jerseyan has played a pivotal role in making podcasts mainstream, has directed fifteen features to date, and even wrote the first draft of a screenplay for an un-produced Superman film that was going to be directed by Tim Burton. Safe to say, the man’s been around.
With such an extensive filmography under his belt and a voracious appetite for media of other kinds, best demonstrated by his very own comic book shop, a director like Smith is sure to have eclectic taste when it comes to the films that he admires. It’s unsurprising that when asked to pick his five favourites, the results ranged from all-American classics to a biopic of a Catholic minister in Tudor England.
Held in high esteem by filmmakers and fans across the world, Jaws claims a place on Smith’s top-five list. Steven Spielberg’s suspenseful shark-based thriller was released in 1975 and has continued to terrify audiences ever since. “Come on, it’s common sense. Jaws is a fantastic film,” said Smith, recalling how he saw it aged five with his parents at a drive-through cinema. The impact of Spielberg’s third feature stays with Smith to this day. “Jaws is the first one that made a deep, deep impression.”
A less common pick is that of Oliver Stone’s JFK, the epic 1991 investigative thriller about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Considered controversial for the way it delved into alternative theories about the infamous killing, it was nonetheless critically acclaimed. “Brilliant writing. Brilliant performances. Fantastic editing,” states Smith, before commenting on the Oscar-winning work of editors Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia. “That is the most well-edited film I have ever seen in my life.”
Another third feature from a much-lauded director sits on Smith’s list. Four years before Clerks was released, director Spike Lee released Do The Right Thing, and it’s still regarded as one of the greatest motion pictures ever made. For Smith, the film was downright inspiring, too. “One of the movies that made me want to get into the movies as well. I knew I was never going to make Do the Right Thing, to do what he did with cinema and tell a story comedically but also dramatically.” The director nevertheless found himself channelling Lee’s movie into his debut. “That movie informed Clerks to a large degree: it takes place all in one day, in one particular block, in one very specific city.”
Considering the confines just mentioned that Clerks sits in, the dialogue was always going to be hugely important to Smith’s work, and it continued to be throughout his career. It makes sense then that Robert Bolt’s screenplay for Fred Zinnemann’s A Man For All Seasons in 1966 is still thought of so highly: “A Man For All Seasons is basically porn for people who love dialogue. It’s always appealed to me. Absolutely fell in love with it because it’s wall-to-wall language, with compelling performances.” Set during the reign of Henry VIII, the film follows Sir Thomas More and the fatal consequences of his refusal to mandate King Henry’s new Church of England.
Last but certainly not least, is Martin Scorsese’s epic religious drama The Last Temptation of Christ. The 1988 film depicts the life of Jesus Christ, as played by Willem Dafoe. For Smith, who was raised a Catholic, the religious themes in the film resonate with him on a deep level. Speaking on growing up and finding it harder to maintain his relationship with his religion, Smith explains: “I still maintain a belief in God and in Jesus, but that gets tried on a daily basis. So that movie appeals to me on that level alone.” With regard to the actual filmmaking, however, Smith can’t praise Scorsese’s work enough. “It’s just a fantastic Martin Scorsese picture. Great performances in it. The first portrayal of Christ where I was like, ‘Wow, this might be what it was like.’”
Kevin Smith’s five favourite films
- Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
- JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)
- A Man For All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann, 1966)
- Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
- The Last Temptation of Christ (Martin Scorsese, 1988)
